New Policy Institute Challenges View That There is 'Life Unworthy of Life'

Policy Intersections Research Center is a new organization established to advocate for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Policy Intersections Research Center

Holmen, Wisconsin (PRWEB) January 19, 2013

Policy Intersections Research Center is a new organization established to advocate for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Founded by pro-life advocate Anthony Horvath, the organization seeks to show that life issues and individual liberty are tightly bound, and government intrusion in one area tends to intrude in the other.

A petition project invites others to join PIRC in bringing that perspective directly to legislators.

One of PIRC's initiatives is the "Life Unworthy of Life" project. PIRC commissioned a new translation of a book by two German professors called "Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life." Originally published in 1920, the book proved to be a catalyst for the Holocaust. The authors, Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche, argued that people, and society itself, not only had the right, but even the duty, to end the suffering of lives "unworthy of life." They also noted that handicapped and mentally ill people were a burden on society.

Few people realize that before millions of Jews were killed in concentration camps, hundreds of thousands of disabled and other "defective" people were killed in the infamous T4 Project, spurred on by Binding and Hoche's arguments.

Horvath, whose daughter was diagnosed with spina bifida at his wife's twenty week ultrasound, understands that some people believe his daughter's life is "unworthy of life." He hopes the new translation, available in both print and ebook formats, will call attention to troubling parallels between past considerations about the "worthiness" of a life, and present ones.

The book will be available in print for the first time next week in Washington D.C. at PIRC's table in the March for Life convention hall.

In addition to this, Athanatos Christian Ministries will have advance copies of Derek Elkin's award-winning fictional treatment of the T4 Project. The book, "Life Unworthy of Life," is told from the point of view of a doctor who discovers that he is tasked to dispose of "defective" people.

PIRC will be co-sponsoring Athanatos Christian Ministry's apologetics conference linking a defense of the Christian faith with the defense of life itself. Speakers include Steven Mosher, Gary Habermas and Greg Koukl. Registrations are accepted online or in person at the convention hall.

Anthony Horvath is available for interviews and can be reached at 202-697-4623 or director(at)policyintersections(dot)org.